While most players seem to steal the limelight with their poor decisions and philandering ways, there are many athletes who strive to do better. One such guy is Curt Schilling.I remember (rather vividly) watching Curt pitch in 1993 when he was part of the Phillies World Series team. He was really young then (but I was younger, so who really is more impressive?) but his grit was clear.
Curt has a son who has been diagnosed with ALS, and seventeen years ago he started a charity Curts Pitch 4 ALS. Every now and then Real Sports or some local news affiliate will do a fluff piece on the program, but Curt pushes through even when the cameras aren't on him. Like now.
This season he has been embroiled in a fight with the Red Sox over whether or not he should have surgery, and has been forced to opt out of doing so. All the press has circled around those circumstances.
Yet, he continues to travel with his team, and while in Japan this week has already met with a local ALS fund raiser. He's also adjusted his giving premise (previously he gave $1,000 for every one of his strikeouts) because he wouldn't be playing. He instead selected a local pitcher (that's a lot of pressure) and has also decided to give the same amount to the Japanese ALS society for every strike out Dice-K has.
I can't imagine the strain that is put on a family when you find out one of your children has such a debilitating disease, but the Schillings have handled it with grace, and deserve a ton of respect for the great work they've done.
From 38 Pitches
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